The purpose of this thesis was to explore the concept Lean, because it is a frequently used concept in today's workplaces. The second aim was to determine if it can be said to be a universal concept. The method used in this thesis is a literature review based on the normative literature on Lean.

Lean is about making the processes in the organizations better and creating changes at a cultural level by shifting focus towards value creation. When implementing Lean in an organization there are five focus principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection. There should also be a large focus towards errors and waste, in order to remove this, and in that way create more efficient organizations. In the literature, there is no clear definition of Lean. This is on the other hand positive, since it makes contextualizing of the concept into various organizations possible. In the transfer of Lean to all organizations and sectors, there will be some conflicting items. This will especially occur when one must specify value, increase flow and reveal what is muda. The positive sides of Lean are the focus towards what is actually adding value to the organization, the customer or client, as well as a strong focus on continuous improvement and good communication inside the organization. Lean will be useful for organizations in order to adapt quickly and achieve profit when society is constantly changing. The findings also point out that it would be useful to have a greater focus on the philosophy behind Lean, and not only on the tools.

Through contextualization one can adapt and translate Lean, so that it can be used in various sectors. It will be important to look at how to best adapt it into the organization, if one has decided to implement Lean. Lean can be seen as a universal concept, but universal in a form of a meta-standard. Organizations can used this when deciding on how to organize. One should not adopt the concept of Lean literally into the organization, but adapt it through contextualization.